FARNBOROUGH, England—
Airbus Group
NV will likely maintain production of its A330 widebody jet at its record rate though this decade, with the build rate expected to ease thereafter as the plane builds larger numbers of the newer A350 long-range jet.

Airbus currently builds 10 A330 jets a month and it is "quite feasible" that will be sustained through 2020, said
Tom Williams,
executive vice president for programs at the European plane maker. Production in the next decade is more likely to ease to seven or eight planes a month, he said.

The Toulouse-based jet maker on Monday launched an upgrade of the A330 with new engines. The jet, dubbed the A330neo, is due for delivery from late 2017 as Airbus seeks to almost double its production run having booked more than 1,300 orders for the existing model.

Airbus garnered 105 orders for the A330neo this week at the Farnborough air show.

Widebody production at Airbus is set to spike in the coming years as the company also boosts output of the A350 long-range jet, its direct rival to the Boeing Co. 787 Dreamliner. The first A350s are set to be delivered to Qatar Airways Ltd. this year with output gradually increasing to 10 planes a month in the next few years.

The A350 secured only four more orders at the event outside London as Air Mauritius agreed to buy the plane and lease two more already in the Airbus order book.

Demand for the A350 isn't weakening, said
John Leahy,
the chief salesman for Airbus's commercial plane unit. "My problem with the A350 is a lack of production slots not lack of demand," he said.